ItalyBlogs we like

  1. End of The Road

    Blog: Send The Bugger Back - 8 November 2009

    When I awoke this morning the Chinese guy in the bunk opposite asked me if I minded if he made a call on Skype which of course I didn’t. Anyway he didn’t use a headset so I could here it all, though oddly him and the other guy didn’t speak to each other that much but [...]

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  2. Artists Lead the Way in the Oltrarno

    Blog: Florence Journal - 7 November 2009

    New article in the NY Times this morning about the arts scene in the Oltrarno: The artists were performing for an event at Spazio Arti e Mestieri, or SAM, which opened in April. While traditional artisans are struggling in the...

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  3. Nice to see ya, to see ya Nice

    Blog: Send The Bugger Back - 7 November 2009

    Well today hasn’t started too swell, I missed the 11:10 train to Nice I intended to get. The problem was that I just missed a tram to the central station while buying a ticket and annoyingly the screen said the next one wouldn’t be for 25 minutes which wouldn’t give me time to get my [...]

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  4. Tuscan American Breakfast

    Blog: Florence Journal - 7 November 2009

    Italians don't really eat a big breakfast - it's true. But I have been down with the flu all week and have hardly eaten anything, so this morning I made myself a real American style breakfast: That's a couple of...

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  5. Gianfranco

    Blog: Send The Bugger Back - 6 November 2009

    Last night me and the Canadian fella went to some Irish bar round the corner, it was okay and quite lively. I experimented a bit and went with Beamish and Guiness, I’m getting the taste for proper ales and stouts now. At €5.50 for a pint of anything though it didn’t do my budget too [...]

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  6. Mailing things to Italy from the United States

    Blog: Florence Journal - 5 November 2009

    I see a lot of these types of questions on travel and relocation forums, etc. "What can I mail to Italy?" or "Can I mail things to Italy?". You can - but the Italian postal service is rather notorious for...

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  7. That coat’s from Matalan

    Blog: Send The Bugger Back - 5 November 2009

    I was only going to stay 2 nights in Milan but I’ll stay an extra one as the hostel is good, I’ve not had enough time to see what I want to here and I’ve still got loads of working out to figure a route to Madrid. Getting to Andorra directly from the French coast [...]

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  8. Museum Casa Martelli now open

    Blog: Florence Journal - 4 November 2009

    The Museum Casa Martelli is an interesting example of an 18th-century nobleman's home and of the family's tastes in collecting. In 1738 Niccolò and Giuseppe Maria Martelli employed the architect Bernardo Ciurini to transform several houses into the present palace....

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  9. Italy keeps making news

    Blog: Florence Journal - 4 November 2009

    Italy convicts several Americans in absentia: MILAN — In a landmark ruling on Wednesday, an Italian judge convicted a C.I.A. station chief and 22 other Americans accused of being C.I.A. agents of kidnapping in the 2003 abduction of a Muslim...

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  10. Fly me to The Moon

    Blog: Send The Bugger Back - 4 November 2009

    Just after leaving Venezia Santa Lucia station we passed the Orient Express. Now that looks like the way to travel, I bet there’s no stamping of your ticket necessary on that mudda. One day folks. There are two things I want to try and do in Milan. One is to see the San Siro and the [...]

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  11. Portals To Italy

    Blog: Travel With Julie - 3 November 2009

    A new discovery about myself: I'm a peeping Tom traveler! Not in a creepy sort of way, but in a casually curious kind of way. Alongside the usual famous sites, I enjoy looking through windows, behind doors and into alleyways...

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  12. European Court: No Crucifixes in Italian Schools

    Blog: Florence Journal - 3 November 2009

    Interesting news just breaking - "European Court: No Crucifixes in Italian Schools" - from the AP. Part of coming to Italy to live was knowing that the church has a very large presence in every day life (or at least...

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  13. Wherefore art thou Romeo (and Juliet balcony)?

    Blog: Send The Bugger Back - 3 November 2009

    Hungry, hungry, I am hungry. Table, table here I come. I could eat 3 bowls of goulash, 15 pickles and a purple plum. Ruddy starving I am, but I won’t be eating until 15:47. 1 minute after my train gets into Verona. I didn’t sleep very well last night so I was in a bit of a [...]

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  14. New Florence Bus Route Changes

    Blog: Florence Journal - 2 November 2009

    Due to the new pedestrian zone around the Duomo, several bus routes have changed. Below is the map, and details of the changed routes:

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  15. The drawing room of Europe

    Blog: Send The Bugger Back - 2 November 2009

    Today I’ve a bit of a hangover and a nasty cold, a potent combo. I’ll get out and have a proper look at Venezia shortly though. I eventually met up with those Irish lads again in the Piazza San Marco. It’s a shame they are off to Vienna tonight (I gave then a few pointers of [...]

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  16. Fawlty Towers

    Blog: Send The Bugger Back - 1 November 2009

    I’m glad I got that jumper yesterday, even a tad chilly in the day now. You want to see the Italians, wrapped up like they’re members of Trondheim seal clubbing clubbers club. The 1st leg of my train journey has been successful, granted it was only a 5 minute ride from the main station in Firenze [...]

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  17. Italian Lakes 2: Molto Bella Varenna

    Blog: Bec and John in the UK - 31 October 2009

    We'd deliberately not booked a hotel for the second half of our holiday to give us maximum flexibility - we could stay put or move on to somewhere new - and after a couple of days in Bellagio we felt like a change of scenery. Not having a hire car had turned out to be a godsend; it would have cost us a fortune to park it in Bellagio and it massively shortened the list of places we could consider staying at - to be considered now, any hotel had to be straightforward to get to with public transport.

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  18. Oh Sienna!

    Blog: Send The Bugger Back - 31 October 2009

    I’m on my way to Sienna at the moment and am in somewhat of a stuper. I don’t really have a hangover but am just immensely tired. One more month of hardcore hi-octane travel action and then I will sleep for a week when back on English soil. When I arrived I had to have a [...]

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  19. Italian Lakes 1: Bellisimo Bellagio

    Blog: Bec and John in the UK - 30 October 2009

    An experiment that you can try at home: Say to a friend that you're about to go to the Italian Lakes. I hereby predict the following reactions:Jaw will dropMouth will form perfect round 'O'Involuntary gasp/outlet of breath"Can I come too?"It just seems to be one of those places that can do no wrong, blending stunning natural beauty with charming architecture and of course the addictive "La Dolce Vita" luxurious Italian lifestyle. We hit the Lakes for 5 days in late September - our last major holiday in Europe!

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  20. Gelatastic

    Blog: Send The Bugger Back - 30 October 2009

    Here’s that Palladino goal I mentioned the other night, lovely stuff. I’m not having a very good day, I’ve wasted most of it trying to sort out a hostel for Venice. It’s pretty much impossible on my phone so I had to pay for proper access. Unless you want to pay through the nose though, there’s [...]

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  21. Visiting Venice? A Little Birdseed Goes a Long Way

    Blog: Family Friendly Hotel, Resort, Suite Reviews: Travel Savvy Mom » blog - 30 October 2009

    My husband and I recently took our kids to Venice for the weekend, and were blessed with a fall weekend of sun and blue skies.

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  22. Casa In Toscana, Real Estate in Chianti

    Blog: Florence Journal - 29 October 2009

    If you are looking for Real Estate in Chianti and the rest of Tuscany, Casa In Toscana is the place to start. Realtor Nikolaus Barnewitz has been selling real estate here for more than 10 years and has all the...

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  23. The leaning tower of pizza

    Blog: Send The Bugger Back - 29 October 2009

    The brekkie here is belter, €5 for as much as you want. I had a big plate of bacon and scrambled eggs, some cereal, a croissant and 2 glasses of orange juice. I also made four rounds of toast and whacked some cheese and ham in them for my lunch later. €5 for 2 meals, [...]

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  24. A Rural Sojourn in Toscana

    Blog: Craigorio Does Italia - 29 October 2009

    Living on a farm is just like that game on facebook: Farmville. Take for instance the other day, this really really lonely purple cow randomly wandered onto the property looking for companionship…. Nah, but for real… The past ten days have been times of hard work, full stomachs, dirty hands, deep slumbers, early mornings, and red wine.  [...]

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  25. Goooooooaaaallllllllll Napoli!!!!

    Blog: Send The Bugger Back - 28 October 2009

    I made my train to Florence this morning by 1 minute due to a bit of a delay on my egg and bacon sarnie. Priorities, you know. Actually I hope I’m right in thinking Firenze is Florence otherwise I’ve no idea where I’m going to but I’ll be 4 hours away from Rome anyway. My pal Topi [...]

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